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FCC to Consider Action at August Open Meeting (8/1/19) The FCC is set to vote on Rules to facilitate two recently enacted laws to improve emergency calling, the Kari’s Law Act of 2017 and RAY BAUM’S Act of 2018, and extend 911 location requirements to additional calling platforms. If adopted at the August meeting, the new rules would provide clarity and specificity to these statutory requirements so that companies can effectively meet their obligations under Kari’s Law and RAY BAUM’s Act. The new rules would also establish dispatchable location requirements for 911 calls from multi-line telephone systems, fixed telephone service, interconnected Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services, and Telecommunications Relay Service.

iCERT Joins Major Public Safety Organizations Recommending Vote Washington, D.C., July 9, 2019 — The Industry Council for Emergency Response Technologies (“iCERT”) expresses its strong support for the 911 SAVES Act, a bill introduced in the U.S. Senate (S. 1015) and the U.S. House of Representatives (H.R. 1629). The 911 SAVES Act recognizes the critical role provided by our nation’s 9-1-1 telecommunicators, and appropriately requires these jobs to be reclassified as “protective services.” Enacting this legislation is long overdue. “During times of emergency, our nation’s 911 systems operated by 911 telecommunicators are at the heart of emergency response. They deserve our support and respect, and the 911 SAVES Act recognizes just how important these professionals are to the process. iCERT joins the many other voices in public safety urging Congress to pass this vital legislation,“ noted Kim Robert Scovill, the Industry Council’s Executive Director. U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (MN) and Richard Burr (NC), both longstanding public safety advocates, introduced S. 1015. U.S. Representatives Norma J. Torres (CA-35), the only former 9-1-1 dispatcher serving in Congress, and Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-1), introduced the identical H.R. 1629. The bipartisan SAVES Act would reclassify 9-1-1 call-takers and dispatchers from “Office and Administrative Support Occupations” to “Protective Service Occupations” in the Office of Management and Budget Standard Occupational Classification catalog. [link to the legislation https://bit.ly/2KQRJOI]. Since its founding in 2005, iCERT remains the exclusive provider-only trade association championing commercial emergency response technology organizations. iCERT improves the public safety ecosystem through continuous new funding advocacy, ensuring that the needs and views of commercial technology providers are recognized and accommodated by all levels of government, driving continuous technology improvements, education, and helping our members reach their organic and marketplace growth objectives. July 12, 2019 UPDATE: The provisions of the 9-1-1 SAVES Act were included among numerous amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which passed the House of Representatives on 7/12/19. July 16, 2019 UPDATE: 911 SAVES Act passes House, moves to Senate The 911 SAVES Act passed the House of Representatives last week as part of the National Defense Authorization Act and is poised to move to the Senate. "[W]e hope all members [of the Senate] will support this non-partisan, cost-free measure that reflects the respect and support the American public has for its 9-1-1 professionals, who answer more than 240 million calls for help every year," says National Emergency Number Association CEO Brian Fontes

iCERT is hosting another informative Member and "Friends of iCERT" Reception at the Baltimore Convention Center during APCO 2019. Room 349 Map at https://www.bccenter.org/p/plan Meet iCERT members and iCERT Leadership. Interested in iCERT membership? Go to - https://www.theindustrycouncil.org/joinnow

Noon (EDT) "State of 911" Webinar on July 9, 2019. Hosted by the National 911 Office, this iCERT / NASNA / NENA Webinar will share best practices regarding supplemental location tools available now and how they help 911 better locate callers. LINK TO RECORDING - WWW.911.gov/webinars-2019.html A 911 caller's location is considered the most critical piece of information required to properly route the call and provide emergency response in a timely fashion. Location information will continue to improve as technology and emergency communications improve, but what is available today? One such tool this webinar will discuss is a new resource, "Recommended Best Practices for Supplemental 911 Location Data", that describes; how supplemental 911 location data is provided to PSAPs, compares those processes to the way location information is provided by traditional 911 call processes, and recommends a set of best practices to guide the development, delivery and use of supplemental 911 location data. The document was developed by the Industry Council for Emergency Response Technologies (iCERT), the National Association of State 911 Administrators (NASNA) and the National 911 Program. Speakers include: Jeff Robertson, General Manager for Public Safety, RapidSOS (Representing iCERT) John Snapp, VP of Technology, Carrier Services, West Safety (Representing iCERT) \ Jim Lake, Director, Charleston County Consolidated 9-1-1 Center

A ResponderXLabs collaboration with the AWS, Verizon and industry partners to showcase the next generation of technology for 911, Police, Fire, and EMS. Technology that can make our first responders more effective and our communities safer. Solutions that can save lives and agency resources. Designed for visitors to EXPERIENCE technology that will power the first responder of the future, but that’s ready for your agency today. Chicago vendor lineup: https://www.responderxlabs.com/responderxlive/chicago19/

OMAHA, Neb., June 25, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- West Corporation (“West” or the “Company”), a global leader in technology-enabled services, today announced it is rebranding to a new company name, Intrado. The rebranding reflects both the evolution of the Company as well as its vision for the future. Since its founding in 1986, West has consistently adapted and advanced to meet the needs of its clients and ever-changing technology. This transformation has accelerated recently with the divestiture of its last call center business and the completion of several acquisitions that have reshaped the Company.

Harris Corporation and L3 Technologies to Combine in Merger of Equals to Create a Global Defense Technology Leader The combined company, L3 Harris Technologies, Inc., will be the 6th largest defense company in the U.S. and a top 10 defense company globally, with approximately 48,000 employees and customers in over 100 countries. For calendar year 2018, the combined company is expected to generate net revenue of approximately $16 billion, EBIT of $2.4 billion and free cash flow of $1.9 billion.

6-14-19 The Next Generation 911 Institute (NG911 Institute), a not-for-profit organization that supports the mission of the Congressional NextGen 9-1-1 Caucus, announces the selection of Wesley K. Wright, Esq. as its new Executive Director. The NG9-1-1 Institute supports the mission of the Congressional NG9-1-1 Caucus to promote public awareness of NextGen 9-1-1 and emergency communications issues and serves the Caucus as a clearinghouse of information on NG9-1-1 and emergency communications issues.

6/20/19 Hamilton NG911 Joins iCERT Industry Council Telecommunications Company expands Next Generation 9-1-1 focus through strategic collaboration with industry-leading organization.

6-17-19 The Assembly approved a fee of up to 80 cents per month on phone bills - including cell phones - to pay for an upgrade to California's aging 911 system following the most devastating wildfire season in state history. The 911 fee is an effort to upgrade the state's system so it can handle text messages, photos and videos. But the fund that pays for the system is based on a fee for each phone call. The fund has been steadily declining as more people opt to send text messages. Legislation: http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB96 Budget Bill: http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB74

iCERT Reception at NENA 2019 at the Gaylord Palms 5:00pm - 7:00pm Monday, June 17, 2019 (room) Tallahassee 2 - Current and prospective members welcome (map https://www.floorplantool.com/MCOGP/Level2BallroomLevel/). Almost 100 attendees dropped by the iCERT Reception at NENA 2019. New and existing members had a chance to socialize and catch up on the latest news. Chair Ellen O'Hara provided a brief update of iCERT's latest activities and existing members introduced themselves to the visitors.

6/16/19